In order to achieve high optical output powers in edge emitting semiconductor lasers it is known to monolithically integrate a plurality of laser diodes in a layer stack. By way of example, the document U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,706 discloses an edge emitting semiconductor laser in which a plurality of laser diodes are monolithically deposited one above another and the laser diodes are connected to one another by means of tunnel junctions.
The comparatively large thickness of the layer stack of such an edge emitting semiconductor laser comprising a plurality of monolithically integrated laser diodes adversely affects the thermal conduction. The heat dissipation of the heat generated by the laser diodes is therefore made more difficult in comparison with a simple semiconductor laser.
Furthermore, there can be the problem that the active zones of the laser diodes arranged one above another have at least slightly different temperatures during the operation of the edge emitting semiconductor laser. This can lead to undesirable differences in the emission wavelengths of the individual laser diodes.
Since a comparatively thick layer stack is deposited in the case of an edge emitting semiconductor laser comprising a plurality of monolithically integrated laser diodes, production involves a comparatively high outlay.